Vanity, Vanity

Even though the Vanity Fair Green Issue features an excellent piece on Monsanto (which, in addition to its long history of toxic contamination, now has a reputation for ruthless legal campaigns against small farmers), we here at The Pump Handle were most excited to see this sentence on the book review page:

In Doubt is Their Product (Oxford), David Michaels calls out the corporations—you’ll recognize them—that bankroll lobbyists and unethical scientists to attack the factual evidence that their products, such as asbestos, lead, and tobacco, are deadly.

We’ve just posted the Introduction of Doubt is Their Product on DefendingScience.org, so head over there for a taste of the tobacco-industry tactics that have now been adapted for everything from aspirin to global warming.